Sewer cleaning bucket for passing around sheaves



SEWER CLEANING BUCKET FOR fASSING AROUND SHEAVES Filed 1 Jan 31, 1947 L. R. ROBINSON ETAL Nov. 16, 1948.

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Nev. 16, 1948. L. R. RO BlNS QN irrm, 2,454,003

SEWER CLEANING BUCKET FOR PKSSING KROUND SHEAVES' Filed Jan. 31, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 L. R. ROBIN$ON ETAL SEWER GLEANING BUCKET FOR PASSING AROUND SHEAVES S Sheets-$heet 5 Filed Jan. 31, 1947 mentors m Patented Nov. 16, 1 .948

SEWER CLEANING BUCKETFOR PASSING AROUND SH'EHVES Application :Ianuary 31, 1&4JZ,:SerialNo. 725586 3 "Claims.

.Thisjinvention relates to sewer cleanersand, in particu'lar, to, sewer cleaning buckets.

"In cleaning a sewer, the opposite ends of a Dbucket are connected to cables wound on power winches located beside the upper ends of a couple of manholes leading ,to the sewer. The cables drag the bucketback and forth in the sewer pipe until the bucket is filled, and then it is drawn out lojf the pipe around a sheave in the lower part of the manhole, pulled out of the manhole by one of "the cables and emptied. However, the upper front edge of the sewer cleaning bucket occasionally catches on the sheave and jams, due to time bucket being led in close to the sheave. .In that case, "it is necessary .for a workman to go "down the manhole and free the bucket. 'This'is a time consuming, unhealthy andundesirable job.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a sewer cleaning bucket with means to prevent the bucket from catching on the sheave and around which it is pulled up out of the sewer.

According'to the invention, a pair of rearwardly diverging plates are mounted on the bail of a sewer-cleaning bucket. The forward edge of each :plate is connected to the central portion of the baiLan-d the rear edge is of sulficient length that its'outer'ends lie adjacent to the baiL'this latter edge being curved outwardly between its ends. Asthebailisbeing dragged up around the man- --hole sheave by the cable, one or the other "of the plates --will engage the sheave and push the bail away from it. Then, as the cable continues its pull, the plateoperates as a fulcrum onwhich the'bail rocks to depress the front end of the *bucket a sufficient amount to prevent it from catching on the sheave.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, of which Fig. 11s -a vertical section of a portion of a sewer illustrating the sewer cleaning process for which the invention is adapted; Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are enlarged views similar to Fig. 1 showing the .successive positions of the sewer cleaner as it is dragged around the sheave; Fig. 5 is a side view of the sewer cleaning bucket; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view taken along lines VIVI of Fig..'5;'.amd Fig. '7 is a frontgen'd View of the bucket bail passing around the sheave.

Referring to Figs. 1, 5 and -6, a bucket which is nmostusetul. in this work has an open front end i and a rear end 2 formed of normally closed jaws 3. Bails 4 and 5 are connected pivotally to both ends of the bucket and are each provided at their center portions or outer ends with a plate 6 adapted to connect the bucket to cables I for moving thebuc-ket through the. sewer. :Normally,

.the bucket rides on runnersllas it is moved. claws .3 areoperatively connected in well known-manner to the rear ends of a .pairofJside bars 39 thatican slide lengthwise outside of the bucket side Wall. .The endseof .bails l extend through the front ends -of the .side bars .and through underlying .longitudinal. slots H in the bucket wall. When-bail! is pulled by its cable-the sidebars hold thejaws closed. 1Bail'5,isattached'tothe rearends o'fside bars 9 so that, when .it -is pulled, .the jawsjre swung open vbytheibars. .In cleaning the sewer,

,one cable drags thebucket.rearwardlydnthe,pipe

.hole to position it. Such a support shown in Fig. 1, comprises a forked frame 1'2 .inwhich the sheave is rotatably .mounted, .the frameibe'ing secured'toaguide post E3. The guide .post is aid- ,justably mounted in any suitable ir-ame [.(libt shown) positioned outside of the manhole.

One feature of this invention is that means are mountedon thejbail at theopen or front end of the bucket to prevent-the upper-edge of this end from catching on the sheave ,and jamming.

Such means comprisea pair ofplates 20 mounted on opposite sides of the plane of the .bail'jd. Ba'il l,

as shown in :Fig. 5,..has inwardly projectingends 16 attached to the bucket asdescribed above, substantially straight sides 1.7, and an arcuatecentral portion "I8 which forms the outer end .o'f'theba'il. The plates are welded .or otherwise secured ,to

central portion 18 of the bail .at their forward edges l9 and, accordingly, these edges are curved to conform to the curvature of thiscentral portion. The rear edge?! of each plate vextends "across the bail nearthe front end of'its straight sides' l'l and meets the opposite ends of the curved front edge "of the "plate at points connected to thebail. Thusythe plates engage, and aresupported by, thebailexceptalong their'rear edges.

"Each plate is bowed-outwardly lengthwise 'of its -50 -rear A edge.

A center line extending perpendicularlyfromthe middle of the rear edge of the plate to its front edge preferably makes an angle of about with the plane of the bail, as shown in Fig. 5.

The plates form a pair of arched shoulders for strikes the sheave. lines, one or the other of plates 20 will come into 'engagement with the sheave as the bucket is pulled out of the sewer pipe.

serves two useful purposes. the plate pushes the bail away from the sheave resulting in the open front end of the bucket also the bail, the functions of which will be described in more detail later. However, the particular form illustrated and described may be varied considerably to conform to differently shaped or sized bails and, so long as the described functions remain, such variations are contemplated by this invention. These functions will be described with reference to Figs. 2, 3 and 4 which show some of the successive positions that may be assumed by the bucket as the front cable 1 pulls it up around sheave l0. Such positions may vary to some extent depending on the load in the bucket, the debris in the pipe or other conditions.

In Fig. 2, the bucket shown in full lines is seen as it approaches the sheave l immediately preceding any contact of plates 20 with the sheave. Since the bucket is adapted to ride on its runners 8, this is the normal approach position. However, if the approaching bucket has been rotated from its normal position, it will be returned to its normal position as soon as the bail Thus, as shown in broken The plate 20 that is riding around the sheave In the first place,

being pushed away from the sheave to some extent. This reduces the likelihood of the front end of the bucket catching on the sheave.

In the second place, as the bucket proceeds :from its dotted line position in Fig. 2 to its full line position in Fig. 3, the plate 20 bearing against the sheavefunctions as a fulcrum between the front and rear ends of the bail which performs as a lever. As the front end of this bail-lever is 'pulled upwardly by the cable the plate-fulcrum rocks upwardly against the sheave, whereby the rear end of the bail is swung downwardly to depress the front end of the bucket so that it will not catch on the sheave.

edge of the bucket is permitted to engage the By the time the front sheave, such as shown in broken lines in Fig.

'3, it is far enough around the sheave to avoid 'catching on it. As shown in Fig. 3 in broken lines, the right-hand plate 20 has been pulled out of contact with the sheave, and the front edge of the bucket has moved into the sheave far enough to engage it. The plates extend rearwardly on the bail a distance sufficient to hold it away from the sheave until there is no danger of the bucket is in contact with the sheave and riding around it. bucket is free of the sewer pipe and has swung In the dotted line position the into a vertical position in the manhole from which it is hoisted and emptied.

-According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principle, pre-. ,ferred embodiment and mode of operation of our invention, and have illustrated and described what we now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended, claims, the invention may be practiced other" Number 4 wise than as specifically illustrated and described.

We claim:

1. A sewer cleaner comprising a bucket, a bail pivotally connected to the bucket and adapted to be connected to a cable for dragging the bucket through a sewer and up around a sheave into a manhole, and a pair of plates each having its forward edge connected to the central portion of the bail and the outer ends of its rear edge adjoining the bail, said rear edge curving outwardly between said outer ends, and said Plates being adapted to engage the sheave and push the ball away from it and to provide a fulcrum while the bail is circumventing the sheave, whereby upward pull of the cable causes the bail to rock like a lever on said fulcrum so that the rear end of the bail will depress the front end of the bucket and prevent it from catching on the sheave.

2. A sewer cleaner comprising a bucket, a bail pivotally connected to the bucket and adapted to be connected to a cable for dragging the bucket through a sewer and up around a sheave into a manhole, a pair of plates having their forward edges connected to opposite sides of the central portion of the bail, each plate having the outer ends of its forward and rear edges meeting at the bail, the rear edge of each plate curving outwardly between its ends, said plates being adapted to engage the sheave and push the bail away from it and to provide a fulcrum while the bail is circumventing the sheave, whereby upward pull of 'the cable causes the bail to rock like a lever on said fulcrum so that the rear end of the ball will depress the front end of the bucket and prevent it from catching on the sheave.

. 3. A sewer cleaner comprising a bucket, a bail pivotally connected to the bucket and adapted to be connected to a, cable for dragging the bucket through a sewer and upwardly around a sheave into a manhole, a pair of rearwardly diverging plates each having its forward edge connected to the central portion of the bail and the outer ends of its rear edge adjoining the bail, said rear edge curving outwardly between said outer ends and the center line of each plate extending outwardly and rearwardly of the plane of the ball at substantially a 45 angle said plates being adapted to engage the sheave and push the ball away from it and to provide a fulcrum while the bail is circumventing the sheave whereby upward pull of the cable causes the bail to rock like a lever on said fulcrum so that the rear end of the ball will depress the front end of the bucket and prevent it from catching on the sheave.

LAWRENCE R. ROBINSON.

KYLE I. ROBINSON.

EARL O. BERGER.

WALTER S. LANG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date 502,130 Mundell July 25, 1893 1,185,206 Kuhlman May 30, 1916 1,732,988 Ruhmann Oct. 22, 1929 

